Festus · Scene 33

XXXIII

Scene⁠—Hades.
Archangel*, Festus, Death, Lucifer*.
Festus Almighty God! sustain me. This is Death;⁠— And this⁠—I knew not, angel! he was here⁠— Is Lucifer⁠—the fallen, like a bolt Of thunder forged in intramundane air, Self-buried in the centre. Lucifer! Wake from thy sealike sleep; in peace or wrath, Rouse from thine age-long trance; arise and see; The representatives of earth and Heaven Stand by thee. As for me, I blame no more The part thou tookest in my mortal life; ’Tis gone⁠—nor spurn thee for delusions dead. The blood that hath been spilled is sunk in earth, And run into the rivers, and dried up Into the air;⁠—and there’s an end of it. What good hath come of it alone I bear At heart. And we have both offended God. Let me, though not in nature to forget, Forgive, what every one hath sometime felt⁠— The Devil’s burning gripe upon his heart. I see thee with compassion, half with hope.
Lucifer Mortal! I bow to thee, arid would do to The least and lowest spirit God hath made: But still the curse that I am cursed with Outlasts the elements⁠—outlives all time.
Festus All curses cease with time; all ill, all woe. Blessings star forth for ever; but a curse Is like a cloud⁠—it passes.
Lucifer ’Twas by him⁠— Yon angel, only not almighty, there! As with a chain of mountains I was bound And hurled into this unformed nebulous life; Stripped of all might when mightiest, struck down While triumphing the loftiest⁠—enslaved When most a monarch o’er both earth and hell, And made a shadow among shadows here. It recks not. Let the impenetrable soul Be ground as through a mill, I only know In action or inaction equal woe⁠— Suffering, doing, being, one extreme. Pass on! we meet again!
Festus And when we do, May God forgive, as I!⁠—
Archangel Behold there, Death! Throned on his tomb⁠—entombed in his throne; Just as he ceased he rests for aye⁠—his scythe, Still wet out of its bloody swathe, one hand Tottering sustains; the other strikes the cold Drops from his bony brow: his mouldy breath Tainteth all air.
Festus I dread him now no more, Not hate. He is a vanquished enemy.
Archangel Listen! he speaks.
Death To you, ye sons of God, My latest words I utter. Unto him Who ever lives, and hath for aye destroyed Me and my reign, give ye this crown usurped, And lay it at His feet; and this dulled dart Which was my sceptre. To the conqueror Belong these trophies. All the progeny Of time will soon cease. Lo! the end’s at hand.
Archangel Thus shall it be, O Death! and thus it is.
Festus And who are these gigantic awful shades Which fill the midst⁠—the present of the place?
Archangel These are the mighty nothings man of old Made; the dread unrealities by whom He swore, to whom he prayed, and at whose shrines He sacrificed a thousand times a day:⁠— His brother falsehoods these, men like himself, Which mere imagination changed to gods, Some for their good deeds, others for their bad: Bel, Odin, Bramh and Zeus, the Lords of death And fire, and judgment, waiting here their death And fiery judgment⁠—Time and Titan⁠—war⁠— Beauty, and strength, and Light, and the long roll Of creatural powers and passions Deified;⁠— Who gave their names to stars which still roam round The skies, all worshipless, even from climes Where their own altars once topped every hill.
Jove Before the Christian cross and Muslim mosque My marble fanes have fallen, and my shrines Shrunk like a withered hand ages ago. But now all signs and sacred domes for gods To dwell in are extinct. The world is all One Temple of the Truth.
Bramh The ages feigned That made Time groan to think how old he was, And Deities in millions are no more. Ageless eternity and God the sole, The royalty of Heaven, is at hand.
Boodh All things that are shall nothing be at last, Save what’s resolvable in Deity.
Festus And all these lesser shades, which move like moons, Half-darkened by the greater⁠—half-illumed⁠— Are priests and prophets of the mightier ones?
Archangel They are;⁠—and further round thine eye can mark, The myriads of adorers of each god, Confused and prostrate, as their souls awake To the demoniac madness of their creeds. Behold! they kneel to those they hailed on earth As makers⁠—as omnipotent⁠—eterne⁠— And cry for help, for comfort; none have they To give to others or themselves. The false, The base, the brutish Deities give way, And all their sacred follies in their train, Before the earthquake truth, engulfing all. Woe to the false gods, woe! to prophet, priest, And worshipper, all woe!
Festus Hark! round the earth Each soul hath found a tongue and uttereth woe. Lo! from their thrones the man-made gods descend, And rend their robes and trample on their crowns, And hurl away their sceptres. Woe to all The gods and idols of the heart of man! Their sun is set for ever in the night Which was ere Light was. Surely it is more To be true man or woman than false god And falser prophet. God alone the true, The God of Heaven, shall be witnessed to And worshipped.
Archangel Witnessed, worshipped, too, By all: the faithful and the faithless⁠—saint And sinner.
Festus Lo! the nations of the dead, Which do outnumber all earth races, rise, And high in sumless myriads over head Sweep past us in a cloud, as ’twere the skirts Of the Eternal passing.
A Voice Souls, arise To deathless life!
Archangel ’Tis God speaks. Let us hence. The general judgment is in hand⁠—God’s hand. The souls of those whom God loves circle us. For thee, thy lot thou knowest. As a seed Buried in earth doth multiply itself Full fifty fold, so will thy nature when Changed, it lifts head in the air divine of Heaven.
Festus Out of the depths of earth and the world’s womb Thine unborn angels seek thee, God, all Love! Now is Thine hour for which all hours were made, All life created, all things else ordained; Be it the hour of mercy, Lord! to all, For Thy Son’s sake, who, for the sake of man, Came down from Heaven into the pit of earth, And lived as one of us and died;⁠—He died The death of all at once of every age; The world’s accumulated weight of woe, From its first life unto its last, which none But the Omnipotent could bear⁠—He bore; And all for us. God became man that man Might become God. Oh, favour infinite! Now reap the righteous, righteous but in Him Any, their guerdon. Evil to repay With good was Christs command, and earth with Heaven Is thus the great example of His word. Enough for sinners this, for all which live. Do Thou, Lord! be with us. In Thee we live; Our treasure, trust and triumph is in Thee. Behold the day of our salvation come Unto the countless all Thou hast redeemed! The ages sweep around me with their wings Like angered eagles cheated of their prey, The ages of all time: the glowing Heavens Are rushing to receive us. Oh, rejoice All ye that are immortal⁠—and whate’er Hath been predestined to eternal end, The day determined ere all time was dawns!